The days after New Year’s are a portal into the main part of the Division 3 hockey season.
After Christmas breaks, there are several holiday tournaments that not only give teams a chance to grab midseason glory, but also send them into conference play on a high.
Bowdoin, Amherst, Babson, UMass Boston and Nichols all skated off with tourney titles over the weekend, and now can turn their full attention to their league races.
Here are our top takeaways from the holiday portion of the D-3 season.
Osborne, Bowdoin claim inaugural Lobster Pot
Bowdoin continued its strong start to the season with a victory in the inaugural Lobster Pot, a two-day event that brought Maine’s four D-3 teams to the Falmouth Family Ice Center.
Despite getting outshot 33-20, the Polar Bears upset the University of New England in the final, 6-2. Sophomore goalie Jacob Osborne was named tournament MVP after making 31 saves in Saturday’s final.
Six different players scored goals in that win. Junior forward Jackson Holl (Avon, Conn.) tallied twice in a 5-0 semifinal win against Southern Maine, and added an assist in the final.
Bowdoin (8-2-1, 4-0-1 NESCAC) and UNE (9-3, 6-1 CNE) both sit in first place in their respective conferences. Bowdoin visits co-leader Hamilton on Friday.
Colby defeated USM, 4-3, in the consolation game.
Amherst skates off with Plattsburgh tourney title
Amherst has earned its first piece of hardware under first-year coach Eddie Effinger after a pair of thrilling wins at the Comfort Inn Complex Winter Classic in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
The Mammoths (5-4-1) needed an overtime game-winner from freshman defenseman Caden Olenczak and some outstanding goaltending from junior Andrew Palena, who stopped four breakaways, in the 3-2 semifinal win over Suffolk on Friday.
One day later, two goals from senior forward Josh Burke and a third-period game-winner from freshman John Small led to a 3-2 win over host Plattsburgh State on Saturday.
Now the focus for Amherst is getting its NESCAC season on track after a 1-4 start in the league. It hosts Colby on Friday.
Driscoll, Babson on target at Oswego Holiday Classic
Senior Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) was named tournament MVP and Babson rallied in the third period to beat Williams, 4-2, in the championship of the Oswego State Holiday Classic on Saturday.
That’s four games now without a loss for Babson (9-1-2), which is off to its best start in years. It hosts Plymouth State on Friday.
Driscoll finished the two-leg event, which included a semifinal rout of Elmira (8-4), with two goals and three assists. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by senior goalie Nate Mueller and senior defenseman Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.), and junior forward Jimmy Fallon (Milton, Mass.).
Mueller stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced on the weekend.
UMass Boston ends Codfish Bowl drought
Three years can be a long time to wait to win a holiday tournament you compete in annually.
Junior forward Chris Reppman scored three goals in two games on his way to tourney MVP honors, and UMass Boston won the Codfish Bowl for the first time since 2022-2023, taking wins against the Mass. College of Liberal Arts in the semis (4-2) and Worcester State in the final (5-1).
Senior forward Jude Kurtas scored twice in the final, and 10 Beacons registered at least one point.
This was the 60th edition of the Codfish Bowl, making it the longest-running annual invitational tournament in Division 3.
UMB takes a 7-4 overall record into Friday’s Little East Conference game at Western Connecticut State. Three of its losses – to Plymouth State, Castleton and Utica – came by a single goal.
Freshman Henry shines as Nichols wins Boston Landing
Tournament MVP Ryan Henry stopped 45 shots to propel Nichols past Conn. College, 5-1, in the championship game of the Boston Landing Invitational at Warrior Arena on Sunday.
Sophomore defenseman Luca Ricci had a goal and two assists in the win, which lifted the Bison to 6-6 on the season. They play at CNE rival Wentworth on Friday.
Henry, a freshman out of New Jersey, finished the weekend with 75 saves on 77 shots.
@MikeZhe603
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